The Inner Battle
by crazykittymomma
Summary: **Rewrite of "Sorrow." Hiccup feels as though he is losing control over his village, feeling as though he shouldn't be the Chief. With his family and friends beside him, he must overcome his anxiety and continue on as Chief.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! First off, thanks for coming here to read the first chapter of this story. It may look familiar to some of you, but this is actually a rewrite of the story I started a little while back called "Sorrow." I have been thinking about those comments for a few months, and I have taken them to heart. I want to make this story better as I liked most of what I wrote about it. Although, I am going to try to make this go a little faster instead of allowing it to drag on like I had been.**

 **Also, in case some of you thought I was disappearing, I am not. I have been tinkering with this story, as well as a story I am actually hoping to get published one day. It might be a year, two years, five years, or ten years from now, but I really hope that I can get it published. It something I have always wanted to do with my life, outside of crocheting and volunteering with animals.**

 **Please read and review. I love getting feedback to help keep me going with my stories.**

Hiccup could hear Astrid's calm breathing beside him while she slept. He, on the other hand, was lying wide awake. He'd felt the exhaustion plaguing his mind and body hours ago, but was trying to push through as long as he could. So much responsibility laid scattered all over his work desk. He had treaties to review, letters to write to other chiefs, and plans to review before the upcoming counsel meeting. He had too much going on to worry about sleep.

"Enough," Astrid had said to him hours ago. "Come to bed. I'd like to actually sleep next to my husband for once."

A year ago Hiccup was announced Chief. Cleaning up the mess from Drago had been a good start to getting his feet wet. After all, a dragon had caused the destruction. Dragons were what he was good at. They had become his life for the last six years. Anytime there was an issue with a dragon, he could fix it.

The issues on the island were another story. He was often second guessing himself. More often than not, trying to figure out what his father would do. Occasionally, he found himself crawling to the Forge for Gobber's advice on a matter. Rarely, did he ever go to his mother. And, despite trusting Astrid with everything, he didn't want to go to her. He was afraid she would be ashamed of him if he made the wrong decision.

Finally, tired of tossing and turning, and constantly worrying about the following day ahead of him, he rolled out of bed ever so gently so he wouldn't wake his sleeping bride. At least, he hoped not. She was such a light sleeper, or at least she had been...up until she moved in. It seemed as though she became better rested once they were living under the same roof. Maybe, perhaps, it was because she trusted him to protect her. He wasn't sure.

Tip-toeing over to his desk, he reached for the list he had started of to-dos the night before. It had a full day's worth of matters to take care of, plus some from the prior day. He found himself growing worried suddenly. He knew that the whole list wouldn't get accomplished today, or tomorrow, or the next. Somehow a few things always trickled over to the next day and even days to follow.

Hiccup was certain that he would have to break up another quarrel again between a handful of villagers arguing over who owned a certain sheep or a yak, despite the ear tags he had come up with to be more "humane" about branding the animals. And, he was sure that he would have to help Gothi at least once chase down her flock of misbehaving Terrible Terrors. And, of course, wrangling the twins.

Honestly, Hiccup was growing tired of babysitting them. And, Astrid and Fishlegs were tired of doing him a favor by watching their every move for a few hours a day each. There were other things he needed their help with. Yesterday, Hiccup had neglected to ask someone to keep their eye on them, and he had found that they had buried Gustav alive.

"We thought we were doing you a favor!" Tuffnut had cried.

And an hour after that, had found out the Belch's gas has nearly spoiled a third of the vegetables in their fields.

Hiccup eyed his list again, checking off what could be delegated to Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Eret. He tried not to give them too much off of his list daily.

"What else do we have to do?" Astrid asked him one night during one of their meetings.

"I can think of a couple of things," Snotlout had said. "Like, flying Hookfang out to the cliffs, the wind in my hair. Or, how about, swimming in the pond, sunning myself in front of the ladies-"

"Don't make me vomit," Astrid said aloud. "Hiccup, seriously, we have nothing better to do with our time."

"Besides, you know you are going to need our help," Fishlegs said. "Especially since Drago's attack put us behind."

Despite their willingness to help and comfort him, Hiccup still felt wary on delegating them things to do, especially when it came to managing the twins. His father had an easier hand at that, because Hiccup was often the one keeping them preoccupied and out of trouble for his father.

After looking over his list, Hiccup folded up his plans, and tip-toed down the steps from the loft to get changed into his armor so that he could begin his day.

...

By mid-afternoon, Hiccup was exhausted. It was only when he had been talking to Gobber and his mother about some upgrades he had wanted to make to the buildings, did he realize he had forgotten to eat anything all day. He ignored the dizzy feeling in his head, and continued to explain about the use Gronkle-iron could make to the roofs of their homes.

"-we can try it with our own home first," he explained. "That way, we know where we need to make the tweets before we do any updates anywhere else-"

"Hiccup, it's a great idea," his mother began. "But, we've always made the tops of our homes with-" Just as she was about to continue explaining, she noticed her son's knees give away, and he had swayed forwards. Gobber had caught him by the shoulder before helping him to stand back up.

"Chief-"

"Hun-"

"I'm fine," Hiccup said to them, using the table to support himself up. "Can you imagine better, safer homes-"

"Hiccup-"

"Mom, just think about it. We may not have to build the roofs every few years-"

"HICCUP!"

Hiccup turned to meet his mother's worried eyes. He could feel Gobber's eyes staring at him with equal concern.

"I'm all right," Hiccup said. "Just my pegleg-"

"I just tweeked tha' thing!" Gobber said sternly. "It ain't tha'!"

"Hiccup," his mother began gently. "Have you eaten today?"

For a moment, Hiccup was trying to remember if he had finished the toast he had made before venturing out of the house for the day. Then, he remembered that right at dawn one of the villagers had knocked on the front door, calling him away to deal with one of Gothi's stray Terrible Terrors.

"That would be a no," Valka said to him after the pause. Without another word, she turned to Toothless, who had pushed him out of the Forge and onward to the Great Hall to grab a bite to eat.

"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup said to him, after the third push. "I am going! Give it a rest!"

In the Great Hall Hiccup found himself piecing on his chicken leg, and slowly sipping the broth of his soup. Again, he was pouring away over his list, and also scribbling little ideas he was having on the back of it.

"There you are," he heard from someone behind him. For reasons unknown, he felt himself go rigid. He shouldn't have. After all, his wife was the one speaking to him.

Astrid took a seat beside him, and when he turned to look at her, he saw the smile on her face fade. He could see it turn to concern. But, before she could speak to him, most likely telling him how tired he looked, he asked, "Is there anything I need to know about?"

A few days prior, he had asked her and Fishlegs to randomly patrol certain areas of the island. They were to split up and patrol up to a mile past the shorelines. Frankly, he had asked the twins to assist hoping it would buy some time to clean up after them. Usually, while he was cleaning up after them, they were making another mess behind his back. It was a never ending, vicious cycle.

"Nothing-again," Astrid told him with a deep sigh. She touched his arm. "Hiccup, why are you having us patrol?"

"Can't be too careful, milady," Hiccup said to her. He wasn't sure if he was just being paranoid, but he thought he had seen a boat not too far out to shore a few days prior. Sure, he could have mistaken it for one of their fishing boats. Honestly he wasn't sure. Because by the time he was able to find a moment to go look, there was no boat to be found, and Mulch and Bucket were already back at the docks. Just in case, he sent for patrol.

"Anyways," Astrid said. "I was thinking-would you be up for a ride at sunset?"

Surprisingly, Hiccup found himself let a grin escape. "That sounds...wonderful."

Smiling back at him, she replied, "Good." Still gripping his arm, she gave it a gently squeeze. "See you tonight, then." With that, she kissed his cheek, and wondered off into the kitchens. He knew what she was going after. He only hoped the cooks had been able to hold back a few hunks of chicken for Stormfly so that she could be re-energized for the rest of the day.

Once she waved to him and was out the doorway, he felt his shoulders slump. It was then that he realized just how tense he really was. His mid-back was aching, and he tried to reposition his posture where he sat.

"I really need to shake this," he said to himself. He turned to Toothless, who had laid his head down in his lap. "C'mon, bud. Let's see what more we can accomplish today."

Receiving a low growl, Hiccup glanced over at his half-eaten piece of chicken. Picking it up into his hand, he said, "If I take this with me, will you be satisfied?"

Toothless shrugged his wings at him, and after a moment seemed to accept this request from his rider.

When he thought Toothless wasn't looking, he chucked the chicken leg between two buildings. After all, they hadn't agreed he had to finish the meat off of the bone.

...

"You stole me sheep!" Silent Sven yelled at Mulch.

"I did nothing of the sort!" Mulch yelled back at him, crossing his arms over himself.

"I have twelve sheep of me own!" Silent Sven said. "No I have-" It took him a moment to count out on his fingers. "I have eleven!"

At this point, Hiccup was walking past them arguing along the main path in the village. Noticing a small group gathered around them, placing bets with each other with gold at who would win the fight, Hiccup knew he needed to intervene...again. He had just broken this squabble between the two up a few days prior.

"Uh, Sven-" Hiccup said to get their attention.

"Not now, Hiccup," Silent Sven said. He turned his attention back to Mulch. "You stole my buck-" He shoved his large finger directly into Mulch's chest.

Mulch shoved his hand away. "The boar is mine. You simply borrowed him-"

"Guys-" Hiccup tried to get their attention, but the two continued to argue. Sighing, he turned to Toothless, who proceeded to coo at him.

"Lots of help you are today," Hiccup said to him, crossing his own arms. He turned back to the men. Surely, his father's large, powerful voice would have stopped this argument from happening a second time. Looking around, he realized more villagers were starting to gather around. He also noticed another person placing another bet on who would win this one.

"I-want-my-buck-" At this point, Silent Sven had a hold of Mulch's tunic.

Panic went through Hiccup's body. Closing his eyes, he quickly tried to compare them to the twins. How he stopped their arguments, typically, was by yelling at them and threatening them. Before, he had just told the two to walk away from each other. They all technically shared the males to help breed the females, anyways. Why were they so concerned about this one particular buck in the first place?

"Mulch-Sven, enough arguing!" Hiccup yelled, approaching the two. He let himself get right in between them, and just as he had, Silent Sven had a fist balled up. Instead of connecting with Mulch, the fist landed directly into Hiccup's gut, pushing him backwards from the fight.

Suddenly, the two med had a fire blast shot at their feet, and the two ducked for cover, and the crowd backed away.

"You idiots!" Hiccup heard an angry scream close by. He was trying to catch his breath, trying to ignore the pain surging through his gut so that he could sit up properly, and see what was about to come next.

"Valka-" the two men began.

"You two are arguing over the bloody sheep again, aren't you?" In front of Hiccup, he noticed his mother had their attention. They looked at Valka in confusion from where she stood over them. They were hesitantly getting to their feet, acting as though she was the one who sent the blast at them and not Toothless.

"Hiccup-" Astrid was at Hiccup's side suddenly.

"I'm fine," he said to her, although he still felt as though he couldn't breathe. He turned and watched his mother.

"It's time to stop arguing over the sheep," Valka said. "You both were arguing over ownership of sheep since before I left Berk. You both are idiots!"

"Valka-" Silent Sven began.

"No!" she yelled, pointing her finger at him. "I am tired of you both ignoring your Chief! He has broken up your fights multiple times. This is the last straw!"

They cowered at her firm voice, and Hiccup found himself turning away. Here was his mother settling his responsibility for him. Something she shouldn't have to do.

"Your Chief just stepped in to settle this, keeping people from betting money on your personal fight, and you ignored him-"

"Betting?" Mulch yelled.

"Hiccup isn't here-" Silent Sven said.

Toothless growled angrily, which brought their attention over to Hiccup. He felt his cheeks growing red with embarrassment. Here he was practically sprawled out on the ground after getting punched. He wasn't settling an argument. He was sitting on the ground trying to recover after being a punching bag.

"When did he step in?" Sven asked. "Why did the dragon blast at us?"

"When you ignored Hiccup!" Valka yelled. She crossed her arms angrily in front of her.

"Sorry, Valka," Mulch said. "Honestly, we didn't see Hiccup-I-I mean the Chief-"

Hiccup felt his shoulders collapse. They didn't see him. He felt fifteen again? Holding a wince back, he swore a rib was cracked. He helped himself to his feet, holding his right side gently as he approached his mother.

"This feud is ending-today," Valka said. "Fishlegs will take possession of the buck. You both will have three days to come forward with four gold coins in exchange for a tax for holding the sheep. If the fee is not paid to Fishlegs by sunset of the third day, the buck will remain in the pasture with the other village sheep.

Hiccup felt his fist clenching. He turned and headed down the hill, despite his lack there of breath and his stagger. He needed to get away from everyone. Although, his peace was short lived. Astrid had caught up with him.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it," he replied to her. His anger inside was growing. He could hear his mother arguing with both men behind them as they continued away.

"How's your ribs?" Astrid asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said again, feeling the tone in his voice rising.

"I wasn't asking you what was wrong," Astrid said. "I was asking you about how your ribs felt-"

"Let me be, Astrid," Hiccup said to her. "I'll be all right."

"Hiccup-"

"Don't patronize me!" Hiccup yelled, turning back to her. Toothless was beside him, and Hiccup took the chance to hop into the saddle. When he looked back he could see Astrid glaring at him.

"I wasn't patronizing you," she said to him. "I only wanted to make sure you were all right-"

"I am fine," Hiccup said to her sternly. "Just-peachy!"

"Hiccup-"

Adjusting the saddle with his peg-leg, Toothless heard the click. With that, they both took to the sky, leaving Astrid gazing up at them, trying to figure out where they were headed.

...

Hours later, sunset had come. Hiccup was sitting by the lake at the Cove, listening to the night music of the locusts surrounding him. Slowly, the evening music grew louder. Despite his anger, and wanting some peace and quiet, the noise eased his mind.

Although, he was still plagued. He had promised Astrid an evening ride together, and he had not gone to meet her.

Toothless came over to where he sat at the edge of a large rock. Hiccup had been holding the end of the large stick in his hands, swirling it around the water below. He had been watching the fish dance in the ripples and the waves he had been creating.

toothless cooed from behind him, and laid his large head down on the rock.

"I know, bud," Hiccup sighed to him. "It's getting late, And, I know Astrid is going to be disappointed in me." He rubbed his side, feeling the tenderness in his ribs from earlier that day. They were a constant reminder that he had lost order in the village. And, that his mother had to regain it for him. His own mother, who technically was a retired queen since his father passed away.

"What am I going to do?" he asked himself.

It had been a year since his father had passed away. Hiccup was left with a responsibility he wasn't ready for. He had actually been running away just a few days prior to his father's death from the title of Chief. Little did he know is that he would soon become that. He wasn't ready. But, he knew he needed to be there for his village. All of his plans had been placed on hold. There was still more out there to explore when it came down to the dragons. He earned to know more.

The village had been running pretty smoothly up until about four months ago, right after the big snow had come and gone. It was then that Hiccup felt the real pressure of the title. People were looking to plant food, wanting help. The fishing boats needed to be repairs. He needed to tame a few more Gronkles to make new weapons to replace the old...The list just continued to grow. Somewhere along the lines, he felt he had lost touch with his village.

The counsel had met without him more than once. He knew this, only because Gobber had told him. Of course, the meetings were led by Spitelout. Gobber had gone to the meetings to defend Hiccup's name multiple times. Lately, however, Hiccup had seen more members growing more edgy around him. Each day, he was trying to prove to them that he could do what his father had done for them all those years, and all of his grandfathers before him. If Hiccup didn't succeed, Spitelout would take over, and then Snotlout, and so on...And, lets face it. No one wanted Snotlout as a leader.

At the last counsel meeting, the scheduled meeting that Hiccup was at, he made a point to tell them that if they had concerns, they could anonymously write them down on a piece of parchment. No one did.

"Most of them cannot write or read," Gobber explained to him. This was something Hiccup wasn't aware of. He had taken advantage of the knowledge his father had passed onto him that other members did not have. Again, becoming embarrassed he was not aware they could not read.

Toothless suddenly nudged Hiccup's back with his head, letting a gentle coo out.

"I am not going, bud," Hiccup said to him. He didn't want to go home and face Astrid. He watched Toothless's head fall slightly, and he turned and began to walk away from Hiccup.

Hiccup dropped his stick after a few minutes, and headed to where Toothless had rested himself in the sand. It had not occurred to him until just then that Toothless was probably looking just as forward to the evening flight as Astrid was. He dropped to his knees and rubbed the top of Toothless's head.

"I'm sorry, bud," he said gently. "I am being selfish and irrational."

Toothless snorted in agreement.

"You don't have to agree with me," Hiccup said to him, crossing his arms. He rubbed Toothless's head, and climbed into the saddle, clicking his leg into the gears. "Let's take a little flight, just you and me, bud."

Toothless cooed excitedly, and sprang up out of the Cove, avoiding the surrounding trees.

...

It was well after nightfall when Hiccup climbed the steps towards his own home. Hesitating, he knew he needed to go inside for the evening, but he didn't want to. Standing outside the door, he let himself sigh. He looked at Toothless, who in turn came and nuzzled his side gently. This made Hiccup smile a little bit, knowing no matter what happened, Toothless would always be with him. This made him feel better, and he took a few slow paces towards the front door, and pushed it open.

On the table he saw a plate of bread next to a bowl of soup, which had obviously gotten cold. Feeling a little guilty, he knew his mother had set him a plate to eat dinner with she and Astrid. It had remained untouched over the hours. Sitting down, he pushed the bowl away from himself, and settled for a piece of bread with some jam. After two small bites, he pushed that aside.

Suddenly, his mother's bedroom door opened, and she presented herself in the doorway. She was in her nightgown, her hair was not pulled back, by laid over her left shoulder. Her arms crossed in front of her. Meeting her eyes, Hiccup noticed they were soft. She smiled at him, but he did not return it. His eyes disconnected with hers.

"Rough day, today," Valka said to him quietly.

He nodded.

"How are your ribs?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied, his voice shaking slightly.

"Let me have a look at you," she said gently, taking a few steps towards him.

"I'm fine-"

"Do your mother a favor. Ease her worry about you. Let me see your side."

Hiccup grumbled and started sliding off the body armor, dropping it in a heap at his feet. He forced himself to hold in a wince as he did so. Finally, once the last piece was off, he pulled the side of his tunic up, allowing his mother to check him.

He bit his lip as she ran her fingers gently around his side. More pressure was applied, and he winced. His breath caught in his throat as he tried to hold back.

"You are bruised and swollen," Valka said quietly.

He nodded, feeling even more annoyed than he had been.

"Now, eat," she said, dragging the plate of bread and jam back to him.

He felt his fist clenching. As much as he wanted to snap at her, he did not. She was, after all, the woman that brought him life. And, deep down, he was thankful for her concern of him.

"Where did you disappear to?" Valka asked him. She grabbed the kettle and poured water into it, then pushed it over the fire.

Hiccup pinched a bit of crust on the slice of bread. He didn't want to tell her. Only Astrid really knew his secret place, and he didn't want someone else following him there every time he had a breakdown.

"I was on Berk," he said to her gently. "I just-needed to clear my head for a bit."

His mother let silence fall between them, and he watched her go through some of the shelves in the kitchen. As he ate a little bit of his bread, he watched her find a small glass vile mixed in with the other spices and herbs she owned. Pulling out a small mug, she sprinkled some of the contents into the mug, and capped it. She did the same with another vile, one of which she didn't have to go looking for. Then, she added some mint leaf, and then retrieved the kettle from the fire. She poured water into the mug, and then stirred it.

"You aren't sleeping," she said gently, sitting the mug down in front of him.

"I am-"

She pointed a finger at the mug. "I know better."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her. "You know better?" he asked. His anger was boiling again. "How do you know better?"

The expression on her face changed. She looked a little fearful. He had never talked to her with a tone as he had just used towards her.

"Hiccup-"

"No," he said to her. "You don't-know me. Not that way, Mom." He paused, realizing his tone was getting worse. He tried to swallow back some of his anger. "We've known each other for a year. You weren't here pushing me from my desk at fifteen years old to get into bed. I was always drawing or planning until I'd fall asleep at it. That was Dad. You weren't here every winter, when I was sick with fever, trying to get me through the night before Gothi was able to come. No, that was Dad-Again-"

The concern on his mother's face was quickly spreading, and still when she tried to console him, he wouldn't let her. He kept putting his hand up before she could come touch him.

"Dad was the one who 'knew' me. Mom, if you'd been here even three years ago you'd know I rarely sleep. Dad knew this! He would often tell me to go to bed-or find some clever way to convince me I needed to lay in bed to work out my ideas. You've only known me for a year, Mom. Dad knew me, and he knew what kept me going-"

"Hiccup-"

"My mind is constantly spinning. It always has-"

Valka seized the opportunity to sit down next to Hiccup when he turned his gaze from her. He was having a hard time holding his emotion back. He'd almost allowed the tears to escape his eyes. He felt her put an arm around him and give it a squeeze.

"I know I wasn't here then, son," she said to him gently. "But, let me be here for you now."

Swallowing some of his emotion away, he felt his mother place her forehead against him, caressing him gently. He could hear her voice quiver slightly. He felt very tense.

"Son, I've heard you upstairs pacing every night. You are up past the time I fall asleep, and gone before I wake up at first light. You are sleeping less, and less. You haven't slept well in months-"

Hiccup was at his feet again, pushing himself away from his mother.

"You don't listen to me," he said. I have always only gotten a few hours of sleep. I keep moving. I don't stop."

"You aren't even getting a few hours of that right now," Valka said to him. "I see the dark circles forming under your eyes. I see you growing weaker because you are too preoccupied or you simply forget to eat something. Hiccup, I saw your father do this when he first became Chief..."

Hiccup found himself turning to her. He was seeing the concern on her face growing, and a few tears falling down her left cheek.

"I love you," she said to him. "Just because I wasn't here for you for twenty years, doesn't mean I ever stopped loving and caring about you. Please, Hiccup, before you run yourself to being bedridden from stress, please let me help you."

"You don't understand," Hiccup said to her. He headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Valka asked.

"Out," he said. He couldn't take it in the same house with her. If he didn't go, she would continue to hound on him. And, he could have sworn he heard Astrid's footsteps upstairs climbing out of bed to come check on them. "C'mon, Toothless." With that, Hiccup had disappeared out the door and down the stairs.

Toothless looked at Valka. His emerald eyes showed concern. He cooed at her, perhaps apologizing for his master's anger, and he trotted out the door after Hiccup, leaving Valka standing in the kitchen alone in her thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**I was so excited to get that first chapter posted. I finally felt better after writing again last night. I have been feeling a little off here lately...like, I wasn't complete. I had a better day today at work, despite the craziness, probably because I was able to write. I love to write! How did you guys start writing? I fell in love when I was in third grade when we were asked to make up some stories as a writing exercise. Even after we were done with the exercise, I began coloring and making my own books. I used to even make my own comics staring "Ahhhhhh Real Monster" characters too. For hours I would write and occupy myself.**

 **Thank you to those who have reviewed and favorited or followed this story. It means a lot. I am glad I decided to rewrite this. I am horrible at completing these things, so lets hope I manage to!**

 **Anyways, here is the next chapter of this story.**

 **...**

At the very top peak of Berk, Hiccup sat cross-legged in the grass with Toothless overlooking the island. Outside the cove, it was his favorite place to go to. Many nights when he was a child he would spent hours just staring out towards the sea. There, he would sit until Gobber would often come and wake him.

"What ye doing up here this time of night?" Gobber would ask him.

Hiccup never told him the true reason. He had sat on that peak watching for the first glimpse of the ships coming back to Berk after a long voyage. One of them always held his father. For weeks Hiccup was left alone while his father went out to sea. More often than not, Hiccup was staying with Gobber in the Forge learning to weld. These voyages were often most likely the reason Hiccup had bonded more with Gobber over the years verses his own father.

For the most part, Gobber understood him. He had often wished Stoick the Vast understood him, and Hiccup found himself trying to impress his father as often as he could. Looking back at those days of trying to show his father his many failed inventions, and remembering how his father wouldn't pay any attention, Hiccup sighed and shook his head to himself.

Hiccup found himself having a moment of weakness. He could feel his anxiety overflowing around him. Glancing out to sea again, he was hoping his father's death was a nightmare he was waking up from. Any moment, the ships would come into view, their lanterns dancing with the waves that rocked the boats. But, he knew that was not going to be the case. Instead, he started mentally preparing a list of all the items he needed to pack before the sun came up so that he and Toothless could escape.

Berk would find another chief. Honestly, it would have been Spitelout. Berk could manage without Hiccup there. The whole village believed they would manage without Hiccup once Stoick needed to step down up until Hiccup was around seventeen. It wasn't until then that his father was even considering the idea of retiring and allowing Hiccup to take over. Again, the village would be all right if he left

"Hiccup."

Then, there was Astrid. Her voice was what brought him back to reality. For a second, he cursed himself mentally at the thought of even leaving her. Yeah, she could take care of herself. But, he wouldn't do that to her. He couldn't bare to live without her.

Straightening up his posture, he turned to look behind himself. She stood maybe ten feet away. He could barely make out her figure in the darkness behind them.

"You found me," he said gently, turning away. His eyes found their way towards the sea again. He heard her feet shift, and suddenly she was sitting beside him now, watching the stars and the sea just as he was.

She didn't speak to him for a little while. Together, they sat in silence and looked out. Hiccup bit the inside of his lip nervously. He wanted to speak, but couldn't bring himself to. Surprisingly, she didn't speak. He expected a lecture, or a serious talking to about not following through on their plans. But, she didn't do that. And the silence was beginning to kill him.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't meet you-for that ride," he said gently.

"Hmmmmm," she sighed gently. "Honestly, Hiccup, I would have been surprised if you'd actually shown up." A pause followed. "But, all in all, I was still disappointed,"

Hiccup felt the slap in the face. He really did not like disappointing anyone, especially Astrid.

"I've been a disappointment a lot here lately."

"I wouldn't say that," Astrid said gently. "Hiccup, you are not a disappointment. So wipe that thought from your head. You have a lot going on. I know the village comes first-"

"No, Astrid. In a perfect world, my wife would be coming first."

She sighed. "Hiccup, the world isn't perfect. And, I want the village to come before me. And, well-you've been-preoccupied lately."

"A little," he agreed.

"Hiccup, I am worried about you."

Biting the inside of his lip harder, he felt a slight taste of flesh on his tongue. Waving off the taste of blood from his mouth, he responded.

"I don't need you AND my mother worrying about me. I'm twenty-one, I can take care of myself."

"Have you looked at yourself in the water lately?" Astrid asked him. Her voice was becoming emotional, very un-Astrid-like. "The last two weeks...you've looked-sick."

"Sick?" Hiccup asked her. This was news to him. Outside of being a little tired and fatigued, looking sick was not something he'd been expecting.

"I noticed you've been eating less, and you are constantly on the edge. I wake up and you are at your desk, making lists, checking them twice, copying more list for the next...Hiccup, did your father live of of making lists?"

"Occasionally-"

"When?" Astrid asked. "The only time I saw him with a list was during festivals and leaving for a voyage-"

"When tribes were coming-"

"That too," Astrid said. Silence separated them for a moment. "Hiccup, your lists and duties are smothering you. They are keeping you up at night. You are becoming obsessive over them."

"What am I supposed to do?" Hiccup asked her, a slight pinch of anger surging through him. "I can't just sit back and smell the flowers, Astrid. I am constantly trying to be prepared-"

"For what?" Astrid asked. "You can't always be prepared-especially with the twins being the way they are."

"Making lists help me keep my thoughts in order."

"Which are keeping you up at night. Hiccup you are obsessing-"

Hiccup was becoming angry again. He had attempted to push his anger back, especially since this was Astrid he was talking to. He took her opinion at value.

"Astrid, I cannot lose control," Hiccup said to her. "I can't!" Sighing, he said, "I couldn't stop the argument this afternoon. Mom had to take control over that-"

"Then let her," Astrid said, placing her hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "You can't be there when someone starts an argument. You have Gobber, you mother, Fishlegs, Eret and I here to help you-and, occasionally Snotlout."

"My main concern is that you guys keep your eyes on the twins," Hiccup said. "They are a full time job themselves." He sat quiet for a moment.

"Hiccup, you act like you are alone in running this village. You are the face of the island Hiccup. You alone can't make the weapons, catch the fish, handle the fields, keep track of the twins, rebuilt homes...You simply cannot do it all."

"But, you know me," Hiccup said. "I'll die trying to keep peace."

"And that is not something I want to hear!" Astrid said. "I can't imagine you not being here with me." She reached for his hand, but he didn't return the squeeze. He simply sat with his legs folded up into himself, looking at nothing in particular out to the sea.

"Astrid, I feel alone," Hiccup blurted out. He had actually said it.

"If you feel alone, Hiccup, it's because you are pushing people away. Let us help you. Delegate. We've got your back."

"The counsel-"

"SCREW THE COUNSEL!" Astrid yelled. "Forget them. At one point in time, I am certain your father had his fair share of battles with them. You will fight what they think the rest of your career." She sighed. "You were handed Berk during a difficult time. The Bewilderbeast-"

"You don't get it do you?" Hiccup said. His anger and passion were showing in his voice. "Astrid, I know dragons better than anyone. I understand them, I can control them and be their best friend. When we had to clean up the village following that, I was in my element. I knew what needed done, I knew how to start it, and I knew how to get the village back into order. I don't know how to solve the quarrels Mulch and Sven are having with ownerage of the sheep. I don't know anything about naming babies, signing treaties-"

Astrid could sense Hiccup's increasing anxiety. She placed her hand on his shoulder gently, giving it a squeeze. He stopped ranting about the issues he was having. She reached up to touch his face, forcing him to look her directly into her blue eyes.

"You are doing the best you can, Hiccup. It's all you can do."

"What if my best isn't good enough?" he asked her. "What if I fail?"

"You won't," she replied gently. "I promise, you won't fail."

Hiccup sighed, still not feeling any better.

"Tomorrow is a new day," Astrid said to him. "I could sit here all night with you-"

Hiccup suddenly felt an idea come to his mind.

"We could," he said to her. "Like when we were kids."

Astrid laughed slightly just as he was putting his arm around her to give her a gently squeeze.

"Hiccup, that was only three years ago," she said.

"We were still kids," Hiccup said. "Babies, I keep hearing."

"If you say so," Astrid replied. She was trying to stifle a yawn suddenly. "Listen, it is getting late. And I need to get some sleep. " She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Are you going to be okay?"

Hiccup waited a moment. Perhaps, he would be. Despite worrying over the mental list he had, he felt better. "I'll be okay."

"Please tell me you aren't staying up here all night?" Astrid said, getting to her feet.

"I may," Hiccup said. "Just depends on how I feel here after a while.

"Okay, but can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Astrid," Hiccup said.

"Don't worry your mother, okay?"

Hiccup sighed. "I'll try not to."

"Stormfly and I are going on an evening ride. Would you like to join us?"

He watched her stand up and place her hands on her hips, waiting for his response. He glanced over at Toothless, who seemed to have fallen asleep while they had been sitting at the peak. He _considqered_ going, knowing Toothless would have enjoyed it. But, decided against it.

"No, thank you, though," he said. She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on his right cheek, and headed down the hill towards the Academy to fetch Stormfly.

For a long while, Hiccup sat and stared out to the sea. He counted three shooting stars. He tried to push all of his worry out of his mind, but it kept flooding back towards him in waves. At one point, he realized he was breathing heavily. He jolted his body to try to rid the worry but they weren't leaving.

Finally, after a few hours, he woke Toothless and together they headed home on foot. Perhaps the walk would be beneficial.

Halfway home, he realized he wasn't walking normally. Heck, what was normal with a peg-leg? Feeling his knee buckle once or twice, and falling into Toothless each time, he knew what was coming. It was official when he felt the pain begin to sheer up towards his hip.

"Great," he said to himself, admitting defeat and placing a hand on Toothless's back for support. The next wave of pain made him curse under his breath. Why did it have to come now? His mother hadn't experienced one of _those_ quite yet. And he was not prepared to tell her or let her experience that tonight. Not mentally and physically.

Toothless cooed at him, and stopped mid-stride to allow his rider on. When Hiccup just stared at him, he growled.

"Fine." Hiccup gently swung his leg over the side, not clicking it into the gears. He didn't think it could handle that. Toothless stayed low to the ground, soaring through the walkways. The path lights had been blown out hour ago, so the dragon had to be mindful of his surroundings. Sending sound waves ahead of them to avoid running into anything or anyone. At least once on the path, he felt Hiccup shudder from the wave of pain going through his leg.

At home, Hiccup quickly pushed the kettle over to the hearth. Toothless started the blaze back up again after the house they had been gone. Hiccup limped over the shelves along the wall, sorting through crates looking for particular herbs. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he looked through the folded up scrolls they were inside, and the glass jars. He narrowed his eyes, trying to read in the darkness. Finally finding what he needed, he pulled the kettle out of the fire, poured himself a mug full, and began mixing the needed herbs into the mug.

He held in a wince as a large amount of pain surged through is hip and knee. This time, the pain only dulled slightly. Pouring some room temperature water from a bucket into the mug, he made sure it was cool enough to drink by placing a finger inside the water. With three heavy gulps, he chugged the mix, almost immediately gagging, and headed for the stairs. He hoped he'd swallowed the herbs in time to avoid the horrible bit of pain.

He cringed. Walking on level ground was hard enough. Walking up the steps was another matter. Toothless stood beside him, allowing him to lead into him for support, and together they slowly made their way up. The whole time, Hiccup held his breath, praying that his mother wouldn't wake up to the sound of his peg-leg clanking on each stair. By the time they reached the landing to the second floor, his brown was beaded up with sweat.

His leg felt like lead. His hip was not cooperating. Practically dragging his leg through the threshold of his bedroom, he asked Toothless to light the candle beside the bed. Sitting down, he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, and sighed. He still wasn't ready for bed.

Pulling off his one boot, he bit the inside of his lip at the thought of pulling the prosthetic from his stump. After undoing the fastening, Toothless gripped the leg with his mouth and began to pull it off ever so gently. The process was slow, because if it was done too quickly the pressure on the end would quickly begin to radiate up Hiccup's knee and to his hip.

"Easy-" Hiccup said gently to Toothless. He had to hold in a wince. Trying to prepare himself for the little rush of pain he would get once his limb was separated from the prosthetic, he nodded, and Toothless completely removed the metal contraption. Hiccup immediately gripped the end of his leg, and began massaging it. The horrible pain did not come like he had expected it too. "Thanks, bud."

The dragon nodded once, then came closer, trying to persuade his rider to get some rest.

"I'm all right-" Hiccup said to him. He watched his dragon narrow his green eyes at him. "What?"

Toothless continued to grumble at him, and right when Hiccup went to tell him again that he was okay, a loud hiss escaped his mouth, alarming Toothless. Hiccup felt his heart race suddenly.

"Give me a moment," Hiccup said to his dragon. "This isn't as easy as it looks, you know. I can't just go right to sleep when I am having a phantom pain-"

Toothless rolled his eyes at Hiccup, then turned and walked away as if saying, "Suit your self." He crawled onto his stone slab, warmed it up, and plopped down onto it's surface.

"That's right," Hiccup said annoyingly. "You just fall asleep while I stay awake all night."

Toothless grumbled and turned around, giving Hiccup his backside.

"Stupid dragon."

Suddenly, he heard footsteps on the stairs. His pulse quickened. He hoped it was Astrid coming home from her flight. Astrid knew what Hiccup was going through, he been there for multiple spells. She would help him get comfortable in bed and talk until he fell asleep, massaging the end of his stump soothingly.

A knock at the partially shut door told him that it was not Astrid coming up the stairs, but his mother. The door creaked on the hinges as it swayed open with Valka's hand. The other hand held a mug of steaming liquid. Hiccup assumed she had gotten up for a mug of tea.

"I heard you on the stairs," she said gently.

"Yeah-" Hiccup said, trying to re-situate himself on his bed. He held in a gasp of pain. Glancing over at his dragon, he realized Toothless was already fast asleep. Hiccup felt annoyed. The last thing Toothless was afraid of was his mother, of course. He would be able to fall asleep easily. Hiccup on the other hand, was petrified she would learn his secret. He hoped she wouldn't stay too long.

He watched her set the mug on the table as she took a seat on his bed beside him. Scratch that, she was staying for a bit. The steam from the mug was giving away hints of mint leaf. That was unusual. She typically never took mint in her tea. Not that he had noticed anyways.

"I wanted to make sure you were all right," Valka said to him gently.

"I'm all right," Hiccup said to her. "Just tired. I think I'll just go to-" Just then, another surge of pain went through his hip, and he couldn't hold back the surprise yell. He thought the pain would subside quickly, but it wasn't. He leaned forward to grab his nub, but his mother had already placed her hand onto his shin.

"Lean back," she said soothingly. It was hard to him to do so, considering he didn't really want his mother touching him, especially on the nub. Astrid knew how to massage the nub to work the muscles. But, a moment later, he realized that he was feeling less tense.

"I can feel you shaking," Valka said to him. Indeed, he was shaking, and more sweat was beading up on his forehead. He was feeling increasingly warm and cold at the same time. "I'm no fool to your pain, son."

"I never said you were a fool," Hiccup said, defensively.

"No," Valka replied. "I mean-I am not fool for what you are going through."

Hiccup sighed. "Mom, being Chief-"

"Put that aside," Valka said. "We aren't talking about being chief. We are talking about the pain in your leg, and probably your hip-"

This caught Hiccup by surprise. By his expression, she must have realized too that she had caught him.

"I saw the herbs on the table," she said quietly, rubbing his knee gently with both hands. "I'd recognize that concoction. You are having a phantom pain." A pause separated them. "Well, you shouldn't look so shocked, son. I've had to make that many times for Gobber. You didn't know I trained under Gothi a bit, did you?"

Hiccup remained silent as she spoke to him.

"Take this," she said, reaching for the mug she had left on the table.

"I've already taken the herbs to help it-I don't need more."

"You've taken the herbs to dull your pain. But, how well do you sleep at night when you have one of these?" she asked him. Apparently, his expression told his secret. When the pains came to him in the evenings like this, he rarely was able to sleep. And unfortunately neither was Astrid.

Just once since his mother came to live with them over the last year, did Hiccup have a pain like this. It had come on in the middle of the night right after he and Astrid had fallen asleep. Astrid woke him up after a thrashing fit. They hadn't been asleep too long prior.

"I knew it was coming," Astrid told him as she massaged his nub. "You were beginning to limp after that five mile hike." And, it was in the dead of winter too, which made the pain even worse typically.

"Drink that," Valka said to Hiccup. "It's what I tried to give you earlier to help you sleep. You'll sleep through the dull ache of the phantom pain. You'll be better rested. And, the stiffness tomorrow won't be so severe because your muscles will have relaxed through the night."

Hiccup sighed, and did as she asked of him. He didn't like taking a ton of herbs for fear it would impair his mobility and mind. But, he wasn't about to argue with her on this. He chugged it down in two gulps. Despite the mint, it's taste was more bitter than the mixture he had made prior. He felt like he needed a chaser, preferably two fingers of mead.

"Close your eyes and relax, Hiccup," his mother said gently. "And sleep will come shortly."

"I-I don't want to sleep-"

"You will feel better," she said to him gently. "I promise."

Suddenly, Hiccup's hip gave a massive wave of pain that he was unprepared for. Tilting his head back, his body tensed up, and he heard a loud groan escape his lips. Apparently, it was enough to alarm Toothless, because he came and laid his head on the bed next to him.

"It's all right, bud," Hiccup said to Toothless once the pain subsided. "It's okay-"

In the back of his head he was upset with himself for calling out. He didn't want his mother seeing him so weak. Not only did he not want her to know that these pains came, but also he didn't like her seeing him so weak. After all, she did have an offspring with Stoick the Vast! He didn't like being viewed as weak at all.

"It's okay, Hiccup," Valka said to him. "I'm your mother..."

She was right. She was his mother. The village was not surrounding him, watching him go through this. He reminded himself how hard it was to admit the pains to Astrid when they were kids. She knew about the phantom pains within the first six months of he losing his leg. Through years or practice, she knew just the right way to massage his leg. Thankfully, his mother knew, too.

"Close your eyes," Valka said quietly. "And sleep."

Hiccup allowed his eyes to close. He heard his mother humming the song she and his father had sang together on that final day. By the time Valka had made it to the beginning of the song for the second time, Hiccup was fast asleep.

 **I love doing rewrites of stories. I am able to refresh my perspectives on situations and the people I am writing about.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I love doing re-writes of stories I have already done. It makes me realize how much more I can expand on.**

 **Also, thank you for everyone for the reviews, the follows and favorites! Means a lot!**

 **Without further ado, here is Chapter 3!**

...

When Hiccup opened his eyes, light was surrounding him. Practically blinded, he took a moment to gather his barrings. Blinking, he reached towards his nightstand, finding the prosthetic. After throwing his legs over the bed, he continued to blink the sleep out of his eyes, trying to focus his eyes on the bright room that surrounded him.

Oh, Gods.

He had so much to do. Panic suddenly flooded through his veins. How late was it? Judging by the light admitting through the windows, it had to be close to mid-morning. How could he have slept in so late?

"Toothless-" he called as he pulled the prosthetic over his tender limb. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Turning to the stone slab, it was empty. After securing his prosthetic, he looked up into the rafters, hoping he'd find Toothless dangling upside down by his tail. The ceiling was bare.

Standing up suddenly, Hiccup found himself falling back onto his bed. His leg ached horribly. Taking in a few deep breaths, it was obvious he was going to have to take this slow. He'd almost forgotten how easy he needed to take things after a phantom pain. He growled in frustration. Leaning down over the bed, he felt around the surface below, finally finding the crutch Gobber had made him after he'd battled the Red Death.

Clenching his jaw, he forced himself to stand up, favoring his good leg. Gently, he placed his prosthetic to the floor, and took a few steps towards the door, heavily relying on the crutch.

"Toothless-" he called again down the stairs as he walked through the thresh way. He leaned heavily on the banister for support, keeping his crutch handy just in case. With each step, he hoped his leg would behave properly.

As he glanced around the front room at the bottom of the stairs, he saw his mother sitting at the table nursing a mug of hot tea. She seemed to be lost in thought. At the bottom of the stairs, their eyes met, and she gave him a gentle smile, which he returned.

His face suddenly felt very warm as he positioned the crutch back under his arm and made his way to his seat the table. He was hesitant now to make contact with her. Allowing her to see him so vulnerable was not something he liked. Then, he remembered how she had found him just hour prior.

"Well, you look like you are feeling better," his mother said to him.

He met her eyes again, and nodded. "I overslept, though."

"You needed to," Valka said.

"Where's Toothless?" he asked her.

"Never your mind," she replied, heading towards the kettle and pouring him a mug of water. She added some tea leaves, and some honey, and sat it down on the table in front of him. "Now, you drink that-" Suddenly a generous slice of bread was placed in front of him, along with a jar of blackberry jam. "-and eat that."

"Mom, I need to get to work-"

"Five minutes," she said to him, again pushing the plate closer to him.

Sighing, Hiccup reached for the mug of tea and took a sip. Then, hesitantly took a bite of bread.

"Good," Valka said to him. "When was the last time you slept like that?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe last time I was sick?"

"Which was?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe-since I was a kid. I don't get sick as much as I used to." He took another few bites, not realizing just how hungry he was.

Valka sighed as she took her seat back beside him, holding her mug close to herself comfortingly. Silence separated them for a moment, up until Hiccup finished his bread and jam, and had taken a few more drinks of his tea.

"Toothless is at the Forge helping Gobber."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "That's where you will be heading shortly-"

Hiccup felt his blood pressure spike suddenly. He held his tongue. Since when did his mother bark orders at him?

"Why is he helping Gobber?" Hiccup asked her.

"Well-Astrid found your list-"

Hiccup felt himself go stiff. Where had his wife picked up his list? Where had he left it the evening before? He quickly tried to rack his brain, but couldn't remember.

"Gobber mentioned to me the other day since he lost is apprentice he has been running very behind periodically. Everyone's been making requests for Gronkle iron weapons."

"Then he needs Fishlegs to help him," Hiccup said.

"Does Fishlegs even know how to weld?" Valka asked.

Hiccup went to speak his reply quickly, but paused. "A little bit."

"When was the last time you worked in the Forge?" Valka asked. "The way you talk sometimes, you practically lived there."

Oh, Hiccup did. Gobber was the one person in his childhood that typically embraced his enthusiasm for creating new things. He was kind enough to Hiccup to allow him full access to the place once Hiccup had been working for him for four full seasons. And from there, Hiccup was constantly doodling and tinkering.

"It's been a while," Hiccup said. "Now, about my list-I really need it back-"

"You'll be fine," Valka said. "Astrid and I did some delegating this morning-"

"Delegating?" Hiccup asked, resting his forehead into his hand in defeat. Where was this going? Why couldn't they have just minded their own business? It was his job to take care of things around the village, not their's.

"The twins are helping Mulch and Bucket with making new fishing lines, Snotlout is helping with the harvest. Fishlegs is helping Gothi with healing-"

"I take it Eret's on patrol?" Hiccup asked.

Valka shrugged. "I don't think so-"

Hiccup nearly choked on his tea. "No one is circling the island?"

"There's no need-"

"Mom!" Hiccup cried. He reached for his crutch and took a stand. "Someone's gotta be out on patrol-"

"Hiccup, no one is out to get Berk-"

"Mom, we don't know that," Hiccup said. "Drago is still out there. You of all people should know this-"

Valka sighed. "Hiccup, I believe Eret is helping to move the sheep and yak to different fields today."

"I really need someone out on patrol-"

"Okay," she sighed. "You sound like Astrid-that's all she kept harping on this morning."

"So, Astrid is out on patrol?" Hiccup asked her.

"I think so," Valka replied. "Listen, you go see Gobber. I will go circle the island a little bit if that makes you feel better."

"It does," Hiccup said. "Thank you." He gave her a nodded, then turned and headed towards the front door. Very gingerly, he made his way out the door and towards the Forge.

...

First, he needed to work his leg a little bit-and hopefully ditch the crutch. It would be in his way all day if he didn't. Hiding along the back paths the lined the houses, he gently worked his leg. He forced it to walk, and despite wincing through the tenderness, he was becoming used to it.

Nodding to the elderly lady sitting outside her back door folding laundry off of the line, he turned the corner between her house and the neighbors, and ditched the crutch. He decided he could make due without it...hopefully.

His walk up the main path was long, and his leg was giving him a little bit of a fight here and there, but it wasn't something he couldn't manage to ignore. He did his best to make sure the villagers he passed didn't notice his stiff walk. A few stopped to ask him about the upcoming updates to their homes they were hoping to get. After a few minutes, they seemed satisfied to know he was looking into it, and left him be,

Finally, he reached the Forge. He walked along the back, and let himself inside the very back door. Instantly, heat from the place made his forehead sweat. He could hear Gobber clanking away with his hammer, straightening out a freshly hot blade. Approaching the main room, he saw Gobber place the sword into a cooling bath, then pull out a different sword. He handed that off to Toothless, who took it to the main window where a young male Viking was waiting for it.

"Thanks, Gobber!" the man called out, and headed off with his new sword.

Gobber waved, and turned around, only to see Hiccup standing just a few feet away, his arms crossed in front of him. Hiccup sensed his presence in the room was making Gobber grow instantly nervous.

"Hic-a-uh...Chief!" Gobber said excitedly, making a recovery. "Glad to see ye're up 'ere-need a hand-Val said ye'd be up-"

"Gobber-" Hiccup sighed. He gimped over to the nearest stool and took a seat. Toothless finally made contact, coming up for a pet on the snout, cooing at his rider with excitement. "Gobber, I really cannot stay and help you-"

"Why not?" Gobber asked him, reaching fro another clump of Gronkle iron. "I'm bee-hind on me work. I need a hand 'ere, Hiccup-Ehhh...Chief."

"You need a new apprentice," Hiccup said.

"I really liked the one I 'ad," Gobber said.

Hiccup smiled. His shoulders slumped low. He allowed his eyes to drift away from Gobber's stare. He had to admit to himself, when his mother mentioned that Gobber needed a hand, he had a little bit of excitement flowing through him. He really did miss the place. He enjoyed helping Gobber during the dragon raids. There for a while it was the most action Hiccup had ever seen or had been a part of. Then, he befriended a dragon, took down the Red Death. Then, he battled with different groups of dragon hunters, lived on his own away from Berk...The Forge became a thing of the past. But, currently, the nostalgia was giving him an itch to toy.

"Hiccup-" Gobber said to him. Hiccup looked up hesitently.

"Somethin's bothering ya-"

Hiccup couldn't hide it from Gobber. "Well-yeah, but it doesn't really matter."

Gobber walked over to the consession window, where three other Vikings stood to place a request in for weapons. Instead of taking their requests-

"Lunch time, we be closed!" and with that Gobber shut the window. He walked back over, and sat down on the opposite stood from Hiccup. Wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm, he said, "Now, Chief. What's on the mind?"

Hiccup let out a low breath as he watched Gobber reach into a drawer and pull out a slab of yak jerky to munch on. He debated for a moment, but thought, "What do I have to lose?" After all, Gobber was a close friend. His father had always confided in him, just like he himself confided in Fishlegs and Astrid all the time.

"Plenty," he finally said. "One minute I am chasing Dragon, the next, I am meeting my mother for the first time, losing my father-trying to win Toothless back from the Bewilderbeast's mind control-"

"I get the picture ye' sissy," Gobber said, but Hiccup could tell he was kidding. "I get it, Hiccup. Too much all at once-"

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah-but-" Hiccup found himself trying to choose his words wisely. Needing to remind himself that he didn't have to keep an image with Gobber. After all, the man just called him a sissy and it did not phase him. Had he let this out on Spitelout, however, it wouldn't have been quite so easy.

"Hiccup," Gobber said. Suddenly, Hiccup was aware that Gobber had come out of his seat and over to him. His hand was on Hiccup's shoulder, and he gave it a good squeeze. "Are ye' worried you ain't doing a goo' job 'ere? Since your dad pass'?"

Hiccup nodded, turning away again, feeling shameful.

"Why would ye' think that?"

"It's a lot-and this isn't something I didn't already know going into the position, Gobber. I grew up watching my father struggle day in and day out. I watched the creases in his brown grow wider with worry each year. He'd leave-taking off to distant lands to sign treaties, hunt dragons, manage the safety of the people...And keep the order."

From the corner of his eye, he watched Gobber's stance stiffen.

"I couldn't even stop Silent Sven and Mulch from their argument yesterday-"

"Those buffoons will be arguing over the same sheep until it dies," Gobber said, waving a hand in the air. "Told ye' mom last night we should just make lamb chops to solve the issue. She told me no-imagine that'="

"Gobber, I don't know how to juggle everything. My list continues to get long and longer with each passing day-"

"Ay, yes. That list." Gobber reached into his back pocket and pulled out what Hiccup recognized was a piece of parchment that was clearly faded and torn. The creases from it being folded up so many times shown just how much it had been used up. It reminded Hiccup he needed to recopy it.

Right when Hiccup reached for it, clearly expecting Gobber to just hand it over to him, instead he pulled it away. "You need to ditch this."

"But-"

Gobber walked over to the fire of the Forge, and tossed it into the flames. Hiccup felt his stomach curl and turn as he watched it disintegrate to ash in less than five seconds.

"Gobber! I needed that!" Hiccup said angrily.

"You need to start over fresh," Gobber said to him, taking his seat across from him again. "The people will speak to you. Stoick made everyone have three goals to accomplish each day. If they got done, that was good. If they didn't, well, that was fine, too."

The look on Hiccup's face must have told him he had crossed the line in some form or another. Hiccup literally felt as though the weight that had subsided over the last few days has returned. He sat trying to remember what all needed to be done, what he hadn't even started working on, what paperwork he needed to go through-

"Hiccup!" Gobber yelled suddenly, startling him. "That list has been completed for the day. Don' fret over it, okay?"

"You mean-"

"I wouldn' have burned it 'less I knew you'id absolutely need it." Gobber cackled a little bit. "Trust me, your friends are taking are of matters today. So you can start fresh."

Hiccup found himself gazing at Gobber in surprise.

"Hiccup, let the people speak to ye', lad. Ye' can't always be prepared fo' what is goin' t'be thrown at ye'. Take it as it comes. If you have a list starting, delegate it to your friends and fam'ly. Then, take the rest of the day and help where we need ye' at."

"What if I forget something-"

"Ye' human, just remember tha'," said Gobber. "Even with a list or a stack of reminders on your desk in front of you, you will forget."

Hiccup nodded and said, "All I can do is try, right?"

"Righ'!" Gobber replied, standing up and clapping a hand on Hiccup's shoulder again, giving it a good squeeze. "Now, I have an assignment for you-"

"Gobber-I really should be going," Hiccup said, standing up, reaching for the crutch."

Gobber pulled it away from Hiccup and shook his head. "I said to let ye' people speak to ye'. Aren' I one of ye' people?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. He felt himself leaning a little bit on his leg. Surprisingly, it didn't feel quite so tender anymore. He gave Gobber a small smile.

"Okay, I am listening."

"Ye' need to keep an eye out for an apprentice fo' me," Gobber replied. "Not sayin' it has to be t'day, or t'morrow, or a week from now. But, I am drowning in here!"

Hiccup laughed. "Okay, Gobber, let me see what I can do for you."

"Good," said Gobber. "Now, what say ye' about me opening up shop, and you stickin' around to help me out, for ol' time's sake?"

Hiccup turned to Toothless, who had sat patiently at Hiccup's side for a little while. "What'd you say, bud?"

Toothless shook his tail gleefully, and nosed Hiccup over to the warm Forge. Pulling on his apron, Hiccup felt like he was walking through the door to home.

...

Hiccup was at the sharpening wheel an hour later, working on a freshly made ax Gobber had made out of Gronkle iron. Feeling at home again, he felt himself smiling. He could hear Gobber singing his favorite song over and over again. Despite knowing every word and every tune of that song, Hiccup found himself tapping his only foot to it.

It was like old times. He really needed this today. He felt the tightness in his chest easing up again. He had been drowning in his own anxiety, which he knew he had inflicted that onto himself.

Finally, he handed the handle of the ax over to Toothless, who took it to the window for it's new owner to love and cherish.

"It's perfect!" the man said. "Thanks again, Chief!" And with that the man was gone. The glee on his face still made Hiccup smile to himself.

"Heads up!" Gobber called, and Hiccup saw a small knife that needed to be sharpening slide across the end of the counter top and towards him. Hiccup studied it, found it's imperfection and began sharpening the blade.

For another moment, everything felt...normal again. Yeah, he wasn't out fighting crime, or stopping a land slide, or saving the village from a snow storm. But, he felt important and happy in those moments. Honestly, they were too far between.

Suddenly, Hiccup heard his name being called in panic, even over the sharpening wheel clatter.

"Chief! Come quickly!" a man called from the rear of the shop. Abandoning the wheel, feeling his body tense up slightly, Hiccup walked towards the door. It was then that he could hear another voice or two calling for him. Standing in the threshold of the Forge, he could see what the trouble was.

Casting a shadow overhead was that of Stormfly. She was approaching over the island, and weaving in and out of the air. Clearly, something wasn't right. She was saying back and forth as though she had been in the mead barrels too long.

Gobber approached the threshold, too, to take a gander outside. "Somethin' ain' right."

Hiccup felt his pulse quicken suddenly when he realized Astrid was trying to help Stormfly stay up and make a good landing.

"Toothless!" he called, ready to climb over his dragon and snap his leg into gear.

"What's that big bird doin'?" a stranger asked in the proximity of the doorway.

"Stormfly's hurt!" Hiccup yelled, and just as he did, the bird was crashing towards the ground...right towards them. "Everyone, take cover!"

While everyone was yelling and running to get out of the way of the large shadow handing over them, Hiccup was rushing towards the dragon, despite feeling Gobber grabbing his arm to hold him back. Toothless stood in front of him, trying to push him back. Below his feet, Hiccup felt the dragon crash to the ground, causing the ground to shake gently. He braced himself as he watched Stormfly slide through the rock and grass. As she rolled, Astrid was flown from her in the opposite direction.

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, taking off on foot to her side. He dropped to his knees beside her. She appeared conscious, but she winced when he tried to help her sit up. Without forcing her to, she laid herself back down on the ground, resting on her side.

"Astrid-what hurts?" Hiccup asked her quietly. Around them, he could hear people rushing to Stormfly on foot. He could hear Gobber yell for someone to go after Valka and Fishlegs. He couldn't move himself. He couldn't leave his wife where she laid.

Taking in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself, Astrid closed her eyes.

"Tell me, what hurts," Hiccup begged, reaching towards her forehead to brush the bangs back from her face. It was then he noticed she was bleeding above her right eye brow.

Stormfly let off a very alarming squawk as other villagers she didn't really know began to come around her. As she did, Astrid pushed herself up off the ground.

"Stormfly," desperation and fear caught in Astrid's voice. Hiccup worried about Astrid, but he knew he couldn't hold her back. Together, they rushed over to her dragon, who was struggling to try to get up off of the ground.

"Easy," Hiccup said to Astrid as she approached Stormfly's snout.

Hiccup went over to Gobber to see what he was finding.

"It's a large arrow the size of a small tree," Gobber said with concern.

Hiccup heard Astrid scream loudly, and turning back to her, he saw she was lying practically on top of Stormfly, trying to keep her calm.

"I am going to kill them!" Astrid screamed more to herself than anyone.

"Astrid-" Hiccup said, coming back to her side. "What is it?"

"Those-muttenheads are going to die!" she yelled again, turning to Hiccup.

"Who?" Hiccup asked her, grabbing her arm suddenly. "Astrid, is there someone out to sea?" He glanced towards that waters, and pulled out is spy glass to take a look. He could see the twins on a boat, firing off a cannon into the water. It appeared as though it were throwing a large net out into the sea. Moving his spyglass around, he looked farther out, and could have sworn he saw a boat by a sea stack-

"Astrid, did you see Drago?" he asked her, crouching down to her level, and saying it so low only she could hear him. When she didn't respond, he grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. His adrenaline was surging through his body. He forced her to look at him. "Was it Drago?"

Suddenly, Astrid's eyes narrowed at him. She growled, and pushed him off of her, taking a stand beside her dragon. "Is that all you ever think about?" she yelled.

"What?"

"Drago!" she screamed. Hiccup could hear a few of the other villagers gasp, some of the women nearby were even grabbing their children by their hands and running for safety indoors.

"Astrid-"

"If Stormfly dies-" Astrid suddenly had tears in her eyes. She growled and started yelling again. "If she dies, I will kill the twins-with my own bare hands if-"

"The twins?" Hiccup said, grabbing her arm again.

"Yes!" Astrid screamed. "The twins! Those mutten-heads fired at us-and look at her!" she cried, gesturing to Stormfly. "They took your contraption-"

Suddenly, Hiccup had a finger pointed into his chest by his wife.

"They took that crazy contraption of yours-re-rigged it somehow-and shot my dragon with it-"

"What contraption?" Hiccup asked.

"The one you built and caught Toothless with!" Astrid screamed.

Hiccup's eyes darted behind him where Toothless stood. He could hear the dragon growling at him. Turning to face his dragon, Toothless was in a clear rage, as his scales were turning blue. They hadn't been blue in months, and the time before that was when Hiccup and Toothless had defeated Drago.

"Look, bud, I'm-"

It was no use, Toothless snorted at him, and b-lined it into the woods behind the Forge.

"Oh, great!" Hiccup said, watching the trees shake once Toothless crossed their path. It was clear he was raging. But, Hiccup had to tend to Stormfly, especially now that his mother and Fishlegs arrived to inspect the wound.


	4. Chapter 4

**Back again with another chapter for you all! I hope this lives up to your expectations of this! Please let me know if not. I take my reviews seriously.**

...

Standing inside the hot Forge, Hiccup dipped a clean rag into a bucket of clean drinking water. Ringing it out, he glanced towards the back door, watching his wife. She'd become very brittle as they had hauled Stormfly down to the Academy to treat her for her large gash caused by the arrow.

They had spent more than ten minutes attempting to remove the large, over-sized arrow from her body. While Hiccup and Gobber were pulling on Stormfly, Valka and Fishlegs were pulling on the arrow in an attempt to dislodge it from her body. Each time Hiccup had planted his peg-leg into the ground, his leg ached. He had to wave it off to help Stormfly. When it finally did come out, Astrid was a total mess when they couldn't get the blood to stop coming out.

It was when Valka noticed the large cut on Astrid's forehead dripping blood down the side of her face, onto her tunic and chin, did she ask Hiccup to take Astrid to see Gothi on the other side of the village. Of course, Astrid wasn't having any part of it. She had fought, screamed, and nearly taken Hiccup's head off with her words before Gobber grabbed her by the waist and lugged her into the Forge. There, she had crumbled onto the floor for a few moments.

Hiccup could do nothing to console her. She wouldn't let him near her. The closest he could get was about six feet from where she sat with her legs crossed on the floor, her hands pushed up against her face as she cried.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," he said once she had calmed her gasping breaths through her sobs. He had never seen her so upset. In return, she gave him the most hateful look he'd ever seen out of her, turned and went out the back door to the Forge. She didn't wander too far at all. For more than ten minutes she remained sitting on the stool watching nothing in particular.

Taking in a deep breath, Hiccup squeezed the rag one more time. Bracing himself, he headed back to where Astrid sat. He felt like he was walking on eggshells around her, fearful of the tears and the screaming anger that could unleash onto him.

Slowly he took a step towards her, standing in front of her, not making eye contact. He took in a deep breath again, swallowed, and turned to face her. She wasn't making eye contact. She stared away from him.

Putting a knee down (his good knee) he felt the dampness of the rag on his fingers. Gently, he used a hand to sway her bangs back from her forehead, and the other to apply the damp cloth to the cut on her forehead. For the most part, it looked as though the cut had clotted.

He gently wiped the now dried blood from her face, that was stained with streaks of tears. Finally, her eyes turned to his.

"I'm sorry, Astrid-"

Instantly, she pushed at his chest, knocking him off balance. His aching knee sheered in instant pain. He was triggered. He no longer was walking on the eggshells, he was crushing them.

"Fine!" he snapped at her, seeing she was beginning to chew feverishly on the inside of her cheek. He threw the rag in his hand at her. "I am trying to help you-"

"Some help you are!" Astrid yelled. "If it weren't for you, Stormfly wouldn't be wounded-"

"I didn't shoot her down-"

"YOU were the one who MADE it!" she screamed.

Hiccup could feel his hands clenching up tightly. He wasn't trying to contain his anger. He was tired of holding in his emotion, and hiding it. Leaning forwards quickly, his hands met the side of the Forge. Astrid was stuck between his face, the wall, and his two arms blocking her from moving. He saw the surprise on her face.

"Astrid, take a moment and think about this," he said coldly. "If I hadn't made that machine, we may not all be standing here today-concerned over Stormfly. Who knows, you could have killed her during dragon training, and you might be wearing her feet on your own-"

He literally just went there. He saw her eyes welling up with emotion instantly, then, he felt a strong pressure inside his gut, and he collapsed to the ground. Turning over onto his side, he saw Astrid rushing away from the building and out of sight.

He laid on the ground for a few minutes, trying to keep his breath inside his chest. She had knocked the air straight out of him. Lying on the ground, slowly feeling the anger leaving his body, he was overcome by remorse for what he had said to her.

What was wrong with him? Typically, he could show restraint when it came to snapping at someone. He knew Astrid was a mess over Stormfly. She would do anything in her power to protect her dragon, and vise versa. Why had he said such horrible things to his wife, especially with how broken she was at the time.

 _Some husband I am._

Eventually, he found his way to sitting up, and slowly up on his foot. Taking a few steps, he found himself gimping. He needed to go find Toothless, and apologize to him. After all, he had told Toothless the contraption that shot him down had been destroyed a long time ago. He had lied to his dragon. In his own defense, he knew it would have come in handy at one point or another. And it had when it came down to catching fish.

Making is way into the Forge, he grabbed his crutch, and slowly headed down towards the Academy. For one, he thought maybe Toothless might be there. Another, he wanted to check up on Stormfly. And, three, it was where he knew most of his friends were at. Right now, he didn't want to be alone.

Hiccup felt naked walking down to the Academy alone. Typically, Toothless was at his side, especially when he was gimping the way he was. He knew he would be okay on his own. But, Toothless was protective. The long walk calmed Hiccup down a little more. Instead of his insides raging with worry and anger, he'd mellowed out a little bit. Or, was that the aftermath of a mini-panic attack?

As Hiccup approached the center of the previous arena, he saw his mother watching as Gobber and Fishlegs finalized the care of Stormfly. They were getting her settled into her pen for the evening. He noticed Astrid was sitting next to her, rubbing her snout and talking to her. They both were avoiding eye contact with each other.

Valka saw Hiccup coming, and she walked into his direction. He saw the worried expression remained on his mother's face, just as she had when she had left Hiccup and Astrid alone.

"How is she?" Hiccup asked her once she was close.

"She will be fine my morning," Valka said. He could feel her eyes studying him with concern.

"Mom, I'm fine-"

"You did something to your leg again, didn't you?"

"Mom, seriously, I am fine-"

"Hiccup-"

"Seriously!" he said to her. "This isn't something I can't handle. I appreciate your concern, but trust me-this is typical." He didn't want her worrying over him. She also didn't want him knowing about the mini-fight he and his wife had had less than half an hour ago.

"I take it you weren't able to get Astrid to Gothi?" she said.

"You know how stubborn she is."

"Yes," his mother said gently. Her eyes wandered, which caused Hiccup to turn around and look as well. Toothless was sitting just at the entrance of the arena. Like Astrid, he wouldn't make eye contact with him.

"Hiccup, may I suggest you go talk to the twins. The boat should be arriving back soon, am I correct?"

Glancing at his shadow, noting the time, he nodded.

...

The walk down to the dock was long. Hiccup could feel Toothless's eyes burning on his backside as he made his way towards the dock to talk to the twins. Toothless didn't come more than twenty feet away from him. He couldn't really blame his dragon, but honestly, this was becoming ridiculous.

Suddenly, Hiccup fell forward onto the ground. The crutch went flying farther away from him than he had anticipated. On cue, Toothless was at his side, nosing him to move, huffing worriedly.

His plan worked. Sitting up, Hiccup reached a hand up towards Toothless's snout. Leaning his forehead into his dragon, he sighed, and apologized.

"I never meant to hurt you," he said at the end. Toothless cooed gently. He allowed Hiccup to grab the saddle and help himself up to his feet. From there, the two walked side by side. Thankfully, that was past them, for now.

...

Once Toothless saw the invention sitting on the edge of the boat dock, that was it. He growled, and fled out of view. Hiccup knew he wasn't going far. Especially after Hiccup had faked his fall to have the opportunity to apologize to him. Toothless wasn't going to leave him there.

Approaching Tuffnutt, who was the first one in direct contact with Hiccup, he explained what had happened, and asked Tuffnutt if he had anything to do with Stormfly's injury.

"Hiccup, what are you talking about?" Tuffnutt asked him.

"I was told that you guys used this crazy thing to shoot her down," Hiccup said motioning with both hands towards his invention.

Tuffnutt turned to her brother, showing a frown. "Ruff, did you shoot down Stormfly earlier?"

Ruffnutt cocked his head to the side, then turned around himself to look at the pile of fish that laid on the boat deck. He scratched his head, and lifted up handfuls of fish. "Stormfly? Are you here?"

Hiccup tilted his head backwards in annoyance. "Seriously, you two-" He sighed and gimped over to his old invention to have a peak at it. Realizing immediately, there was no way they could have hooked a large arrow to it. And, the contraption couldn't have held the weight of it. And, were the twins even smart enough to re-rig the thing to throw arrows anyways?

"Hey, Mulch, did you shoot Stormfly down?" Ruffnutt called suddenly, knocking Hiccup out of his thoughts.

"After all-" Tuffnutt said. "Mulch is known for a good fist fight-"

"Since when am I known for that?" Mulch asked, coming up from below deck with a few large bags to stuff the fish into.

"Since yesterday when you and Silent Sven punched Hiccup-" Ruffnutt began.

"Now, ye kids see here!" Mulch began, approaching Hiccup hesitantly. "I didn't touch the Chief-"

Hiccup's eyes widened. Just what he needed: that fiasco to be brought up again. He put his hand to stop the conversation. "Guys-it's fine." He turned back to the contraption again, and sighed in defeat. "Well, at least it catches some nice fish."

"So, Chief," Mulch began. "I heard you correctly, right? You said Stormfly was shot out of the air earlier. Why were we accused of this treason?"

Clearly, Mulch was becoming defensive.

"It happened when Stormfly was in range of you guys. When we found out you guys had-this-" He gestured to his invention. "-I think it was automatically assumed someone had rigged it up to be some sort of cross bow."

Mulch scratched his face, taking in what Hiccup was saying.

"Did you guys happen to see someone else around you today?" he asked. He hoped for a good answer. "Perhaps another boat-maybe with foreign flags? Maybe built differently then how we make ours?"

Mulch shook his head, although Hiccup felt he already knew that answer. But, he could have sworn he saw a boat out on the waters during all the chaos. Perhaps wishful thinking? Was he seeing things? And, if Mulch and the twins hadn't shot the arrow at Stormfly, where had the arrow come from?

Hiccup felt something more was happening around him. But, with everything that had been going on the last few days, he felt if he brought this up to the counsel now, they would have sworn he was insane. No, he would wait until he was sure something was going on. He only hoped it didn't take so long to find it.

...

Arriving home after nightfall, Hiccup pushed the door open to find his mother standing at the hearth feeding it some logs. She looked over towards him, and gave him a small smile. Sighing as he entered the home, he left the door open behind himself. Shortly after he took a seat at the table, Toothless came trailing behind him. The dragon slammed the door shut with his tail and snorted.

"I have apologized to you about a dozen times today," Hiccup said to his dragon. It was true, he had. No sooner did Hiccup felt that they were past it, once Toothless saw the invention, he was angry again. And, he continued to stay angry. "What more do you want?"

The dragon boggled at him,

"And, no, you've had enough trout for today-"

The dragon snorted again, then swiftly bounded up the stairs to the loft. A moment later, they heard that door slam shut upstairs, then a crash. Hiccup winced. He could only assume the crash was a pile of papers and books on the desk now being strung all over the place.

Sighing, Hiccup placed a hand up to his face. "Again, he's throwing a tantrum-"

"Sounds like the last few hours have been a little rough," Valka said to him, grabbing a kettle and pouring herself some hot water for some tea.

"You don't know the half of it," Hiccup sighed again. The remaining part of the day Hiccup spent trying to make his way back up the hill for home. And, Toothless wasn't helping him despite the pain surging through his leg. Hiccup grabbed the spot just below his knee, twisted himself around, and laid his leg gently over the bench to stretch it out.

"So, what kind of progress did you make today?" Valka asked.

"Not much. However, my wife is pissed off at me, my dragon is pissed off at me-oh, and the twins didn't shoot Stormfly down." He paused. "Speaking of-"

"She is fine," Valka said to him, taking her seat across from him at the table. "You sure the twins-"

"Yes," Hiccup said firmly.

"But, Astrid was so sure-"

"Mom, I looked that thing over three times while I was down there. I built it. I hadn't had a good look at it in a few years-but I can assure you this-a giant arrow could not have been hooked to it. It didn't shoot Stormfly and Astrid down."

"Then, what was it?" Valka asked him.

Hiccup found himself struggling to speak. "Eh-I-" Pausing briefly, he began again. "No one wants to believe my theory-"

"About Dragon?"

Hiccup nodded. "Astrid thinks I'm insane-she was so upset-"

"Hiccup, you have to admit, if you had been in her shoes, you might have been acting irrational as well."

Obviously, Valka knew of the incident they had. He turned away from her, feeling ashamed he had come at Astrid like he had.

"So," Valka said. "Do you believe someone is within our boarders?"

He wanted to tell her about the boat he saw in the distance by the sea stack earlier. But, he doubted himself. He could have been imagining things for all he knew. The emotional and physical stress over the last few weeks was weighing heavily on his shoulders and inside himself.

"I'm not sure," Hiccup said finally. With is sigh, the conversation was ended, and he turned to begin taking off his prosthetic, a task he was both looking forward to and dreading at the same time. He took in a deep breath, unfastened it, removed it, and began the process of massaging his nub to relieve some of the pain.

"Better?" Valka asked him. He nodded in reply.

His mother went to the hearth again and poured some more hot water into a mug, then added a mix of herbs to it. She sat it on the table to cool a little bit. Hiccup stopped watching her, and placed his focus on his leg. It wasn't a moment later, a bowl of yak noodle soup was placed at his spot at the table.

"I don't believe you've had a lot to eat today," Valka said.

Hiccup smelled the aroma. Surprisingly, it smelled delicious, but when it came down to his mother's cooking he always approached cautiously.

"You made this?"

"Actually, it came from the Great Hall. I just swiped us a cauldron full for the evening." He watched his mother cross her arms in front of herself. He thought he could see the hurt on her face when he asked. She knew she couldn't cook well, but it probably did bother her if he pointed it out. "It's Gobber's recipe."

Suddenly, the front door was pushed open, and inside walked Astrid.

The atmosphere in the room immediately changed. Hiccup suddenly found his stomach turning again. He was reliving the punch to the gut over again. Forget the soup tonight. He was just ready to go to bed,

"I'll leave you two alone," Valka said. Before she retired to her room, she pushed a mug of herbs towards Hiccup. "Just add warm water. For a good night's rest-and then some." Hiccup already knew what it was for. It was a mixture of his draft for his phantom pains plus the sleeping draft. "Evening to you both." With that, Valka retired to her room for the evening.

Hiccup didn't meet Astrid's eyes. Instead, he focused on the herbs moving around in the bottom of the mug he was rotating around in his hand. He sighed, and hung is head, feeling guilt overwhelm him again as he recalled cornering her the way he had.

Astrid slowly walked over to where Valka usually sat at the table. Traditionally, the wife to the husband would sit at his right hand. But, Hiccup and Astrid were anything but traditional. Astrid sat where she pleased and when she pleased. And, right then Valka's usual seat was where she wanted to be at.

Hiccup noted that she seemed to be moving particularly slower than usual. He didn't dare meet her eyes, but he noticed how rigid she was in the seat.

Silence filled the roof for a little while. Hiccup felt the inside of his gut turning.

"Did you talk to the twins?" Astird asked suddenly.

Hiccup nodded.

"Well?" Her tone was strict.

"They didn't do it," he said gently.

"Hiccup, I saw them shooting that thing off moments before Stormfly was hit-"

Hiccup looked up and made eye contact with her. His breath caught in his chest when he realized the state she was in. Her eyes were puffy, surprisingly. Worse than they had been hours prior. She appeared slightly red faced, and completely exhausted.

"Astrid-I won't say what I think it is," he said. "But I can assure you, it wasn't the twins-or anyone-or ANYTHING on that fishing boat."

Suddenly, he felt pain shoot through his nub. He felt like a hot iron was being pressed to it. He tried to hold in the gasp, and to hide what was happening, but he found he couldn't. He lunged forward to grab his leg in hopes of massaging the pain away.

"Sorry-"he said gently.

Before he could continue, Astrid had walked over and sat on the bench beside him, attempting to rub the pain away. Hiccup felt himself clench up, ready for her to punch him, but she didn't. Instead, she lifted his leg up over into her lap and began rubbing it in a soothing motion.

"Astrid-I-"

Astrid and he made eye contact. He saw tears welling up in her eyes, and immediately he wanted to hold her. He slowly and gently reached his arm up, and began to cradle her into himself. Surprisingly, she didn't hesitate. She allowed him to hold her close.

"I'm sorry-" he breathed gently. "I know I scared you-"

She pulled back again, and shook her head. Suddenly, she was giving him a nervous smile. "Don't be. I was being difficult."

"Astrid, that doesn't give me any right to treat you the way I did," Hiccup said.

"Hiccup, I know you've been under a lot of stress lately," Astrid said gently. "I know you don't typically react that way-and I was really pushing your limits."

Hiccup felt another pain go through his leg again, this time he had to grip the end of the bench to keep himself upright.

"Hiccup-"

"I'm fine," he said, letting out a breath. "Astrid, I need to drink this-and I need to go to bed-"

Astrid had been through this before. Immediately, she helped him twist himself out from the table, and pulling an arm over her shoulder, they stood.

"My crutch-"

"Hiccup, you and I both know you don't have the strength-" Astrid said. She was right. By this point his leg was going from a pain level of a four towards a five or a six. By the time he would settle himself down, he'd be at a seven. Together, they made their way up the stairs and towards the bed.

Toothless had raised his head once they entered. He noticed his rider was in some sort of distress, but Hiccup made eye contact with him, and shook his head.

"It's okay, bud-" he said. "Nothing unusual-"

Astrid made sure he was comfortable before she reached for the mug he had abandoned on the nightstand, poured some room temperature water into it, and handed it to him. He downed it in a one swig, not even paying attention to the horrible after taste.

"Astrid-"

"Hiccup, relax-"

"No," he said, grabbing her hand. He pulled her towards him and she took a seat on the bed beside him. He knew he'd be asleep in a matter of a few moments. He reached up towards her forehead, and swooped her bangs from her face. A bandaged set over the cut. "You did go see Gothi."

She nodded back.

"Astrid-" Hiccup held in a cry as a reaction to the wave of pain going through his leg. "I won't ever treat you like I did today-you have no idea how sorry I am."

"Shhhhh," Astrid said gently to him. "I know, Hiccup. I know. Now, let me get this armor off, and I will come to bed, okay?"

It wasn't a few moments later, Astrid crawled into bed next to Hiccup. Taking his hand into her's under the covers, she gave it a squeeze.

"I love you."

His eyes were closed, but she saw him smile gently. He turned into her ear and said, "I love you, milady."

...

So, apparently I cannot get past the Hiccup whump. Also, I am no expert at phantom pains, guys. Honestly, I have done some research on them. I am not sure if the aches can linger like this for days or not, but I know when my body aches from stress or over exhaustion, I am sore for at least a day or two following. So, this was how I wrote this chapter.

I hope I didn't make Astrid out to be too much of a softy in this chapter, either. I know once I wrote her literally crumbling at worrying so much over Hiccup that I had a lot of negative reviews over that.

Please let me know what you think. I still have another chapter I am editing that I had already written from the discontinued version of this. After that, I really need to figure out where I am going with this story. And I am trying not to move it too slow for you guys either.

Thanks again, guys!


	5. Chapter 5

**Well,** **sorry-not-sorry. Just to forewarn you, this starts out with Eret's point of view. For some reason unknown to me, seems like everyone HATES Eret. I really like his character. We know so little about him, though. Probably why I liked writing about him so much. I can develop the little outline we have of him from the one movie we have seen him in. If you also like, Eret, you should check out two of my other stories. Both of them are shorts, but they are about who I pictured him being prior to being a dragon hunter.**

 **Please review! I love hearing what you guys like and don't like (even if it is Eret!).**

 **...**

It was the middle of the night, and Eret woke with a jolt. Reminding himself to stay still, he strained his ears to listen around him. Silently trying to regain his breath, he slowly slipped his hand under his pillow where he laid. His fingers slipped over the handle of his knife.

He couldn't hear anything. Could he have been dreaming? No, he couldn't have been. He hadn't had a solid dream in years, not since he became part of Drago's hunting army. What exactly did he hear?

If someone had been inside his home, he would have known. Traps were set all around the house in case someone had tried to come inside. Every evening he'd taken measures to assure his safety. Even though the traps were set, he knew they weren't for sure going to go off.

Reaching over to his nightstand, he lit his candle to give his eyes some source of light. Feeling his breath finally catch in his throat and lungs as he surveyed the room, he saw no one standing it the corners waiting to pounce on him. Very slowly and strategically, he stepped on his upstairs floor boards, keeping his knife drawn up.

He realized then that he left his sword down in the kitchen area when he'd come inside just hours ago. Mentally cursing himself, he continued across the room towards his bedroom door, leaning down and cutting the small threads that would have tripped an intruder. He didn't take his eyes off of the doorway.

Craning his ears, he still heard no footsteps inside his home. Yet, he did hear something downstairs. It sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't pin-point what it was. He swallowed hard, trying to listen in on what the noise was.

It wasn't rain. Or hail. The noise wasn't coming from outside, it was coming from just below his feet.

Sniffing the air, he smelled something charred. His stomach gave an unsteady wave when he realized what it was.

 _Smoke!_

Feeling not only his stomach leap violently a second time, but his chest suddenly felt heavy from the instant fear that ran through his veins. Instead of opening the door to head down the stairs, he took in a breath to calm himself, and began slowly backing up towards the far corner of his room.

He continued to keep an eye on the doorway, wondering if the person who was bold enough to set fire to his home was still inside the house. Possibly waiting just at the stairs for him to come bolting down them to get out of his home.

Feeling for the thin rope that hung above his head, Eret took in a deep breath to ready himself. He hoped little noise would be made when he pulled the hatch down. Putting the handle of the knife between his teeth, he readied himself.

1...2...THREE!

Pulling the hatch down, he quickly hustled upward into the rafters. Three steps to the right of the hatch, he kicked open the small escape hole. Quickly, he pulled himself up onto the roof of his home. Gathering his barrings with the light from the night sky, he turned. If he wasn't awake a moment ago, he was now.

Not only was the outside perimeter of his home on fire, but so were half a dozen other homes down the hill from his own. And who knew if more on the lower hill were ablaze.

He used his dragon call to signal Skullcrusher.

He stood and waited impatiently. Skullcrusher should have been there within a moment. He only kept himself within fifty yards of Eret's home in the evenings so he could better protect his rider. At this point, three minutes had passed easily.

Looking back down at the circle that was surrounding his home, the blaze was beginning to grow.

"Skullcrusher!" Eret turned and yelled towards the woods, then he used his dragon call again, hoping if someone had heard him call the name, it would have blended. If someone knew he was out of the house and walking, surely they would come and attempt to take his head.

Where was the beast?

In the distance, over the crackling of the flames, Eret heard a loud roar. It was definitely his dragon. But, for some reason or another, Eret realized the dragon was not going to be coming to him. Something was preventing him from coming to his aide. It was then that Eret felt he had no choice. He needed to save himself by finding a way off the top of his home.

Feeling a breeze rush past him, he glanced down towards the hill, he saw that the fires were becoming larger. Eret turned to his left, and noticed about twenty feet away, a large branch from a memosa tree was outstretched towards his house. If only...

It was his only shot.

He needed to get off the roof and warn those who were also effected by the fire in the village. He backed himself to the other side of the roof of his home, as far as he could go without slipping., and placed the butt of his knife into his mouth.

Readying himself, he took off running towarsd the other side, making a dashing leap of faith. From there, he managed to grab a hold of the large branch.

But only briefly, because he lost his hand on it, and fell twenty-five feet towards the ground.

...

Morning arrived, and Hiccup laid comfortably in his bed, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. As he began to stir, he thought he heard the villagers talking loudly as they passed by the house. Swallowing, Hiccup wondered if he'd slept in too late again. And, for a moment, the thought it did not matter if he had. He was too cozy, curled up in his bed to care too much.

"Astrid," he whispered, turning over to wake his wife.

But, she was already gone.

That's strange. It was just after sun-up. Through his window he could see the sun was just above the ocean line in the distance. Yes, they both had a habit of waking up early most days, but even Astrid was usually asleep when Hiccup crawled out of bed.

At least, until the last few days.

Hearing a few muffled voices outside, he felt something was off. Even now, most of the villagers were not up at this time, especially ones with children. Typically, those who tended to the crops and the animals were up at this time. He swore he could hear a baby crying not too far from his house.

Outside the home, it sounded like there was a lot of excitement happened. Perhaps one of the trading ships had arrived earlier than expected? One wasn't due for another few days.

"That has to be it," Hiccup said. "Hey, bud, let's go-"

Hiccup had turned and realized that the slab of rock on the other side of the room was vacant. Where had Toothless gone?

Another distant yell outside caused a twinge of panic to run through him. Something was going on. He had a bad feeling.

Reaching to the bedside table, he grabbed his prosthetic, and quickly attached it, ignoring a tender spot as he pulled it on. He quickly pulled on his armor, grabbed his weapon, and rushed down the stairwell, jumping the final four.

Downstairs, it was clear he was the only one inside the home. Typically, he would have found his mother her herself some warm tea and slicing herself a piece of bread for breakfast...that was when he wasn't waking up before dawn and taking off to take care of the village.

Turning towards the front door, he realized it was half open, letting in more of the noise taking place outside. People were calling to each other, someone was screaming, and footsteps were rushing past the house along the main path.

Stepping outside the house, Hiccup was greeted immediately with the smell of smoke, fire and ash that surrounded him in the air. He felt his heart in his chest catch as it fluttered.

Most of the villagers that he could see looked exhausted sitting outside their homes. He could tell at least half the village was outside.

He looked up towards the center of town, and he could see a darker cloud of smoke hanging over some of the roof tops. Calling his dragon, he took off on foot into the direction the smoke was the heaviest.

For some reason, as he ran through town, he felt many of the villagers staring at him, They seemed angry for some reason, their eyes narrowing at him. Feeling the panic in his chest becoming heavier as it grew, he tried to hurry on.

Then, the whispers began the closer to the center square he became-

"Nice of the Chief to join us-"

"Where has he been hiding?"

"Where was he when all the hell broke loose?"

Hiccup's run began to slow. His mind became dizzy, and he stopped to catch his breath. Leaning heavily on his knees, he called out to his dragon again. And, it wasn't a few seconds later, he heard Toothless cry. Glancing up, he saw the black dragon coming towards him from the center square, weaving and leaping from roof tops on the main drag. He was trying to get to Hiccup as quickly as he could.

Hiccup found the energy to run towards him. The sooner he was able to get to Toothless, the better he would feel.

At last, they were together. Hiccup jumped right onto his buddy, and they took off into the air.

"Toothless-" Hiccup breathed. Up in the air, Hiccup could see in the distance how deep the smoke actually was. He could barely see through it as it flowed in large puffs from at least a dozen homes. People were taking turns moving buckets of water to the homes and back.

Looking down over his people, many were covered in black soot. Appearing absolutely exhausted, they sat and sipped on cups of water. Their expressions showed fear and sadness. Hiccup felt his jaw clench, and instantly he felt himself grinding his teeth with worry.

"Bud, what happened?" he breathed.

Toothless gave a low coo.

"What did I sleep through?"

Feeling as though he were on the verge of tears, the panic rushing through him felt much worse than before. Toothless began to lower himself down upon the eastern part of the island, closer to the side of the village Eret's home was located. As Toothless approached for a landing, Hiccup could see that more than a dozen homes were set on fire overnight, and at least half of them were had laid in ruins.

The mixture of emotions surrounding Hiccup overwhelmed him. Both anger and fear flooded through him like a river breaking through a dam. Finally, Toothless went down to land. Just below, he could see that Toothless had brought him to his family.

Astrid and his mother were talking with Gobber. Making eye contact with his wife, he saw the concerned expression on her face. Astrid paused the conversation and came rushing up to him as he slid off of his dragon. She practically threw her arms around his shoulders, forcing herself into his arms in a tight hug.

"I thought you had died!" she said to him in a quick and hushed tone.

"Died?" he asked her, hearing his own surprise in his voice. He pulled away from her, and met her eyes again. They appeared as though they were about to unleash a river of tears. Her eyes appeared blood shot, most likely from all the smoke she had been around since Thor knew how long. Smoke lingered all over her, especially in her hair. Spots of soot were on her arms and face.

"Astrid, what happened? What is going on?" he asked. He suddenly realized he was gripping her shoulders fiercely and he had to pull himself off of her to stop himself from her. He was thankful he caught himself. His fear and compassion were becoming the better of him. "Was anyone hurt? What needs done?"

Feeling as though he was spinning in circles as he looked at the damage that surround him. He could hear a baby crying in the background, someone yelling for some more water. He was beginning to make a mental list of to-dos, and just when he felt like he was going to shatter from the panic-

"Easy, lad," Gobber said suddenly, pulling him close by the arm and taking him away from Astrid. Hiccup's eyes suddenly met his mother's. She was concerned.

"I don't understand-"

"I figure ye' don'," Gobber said to him, practically supporting him where he stood. "Take a few deep breaths, son-"

Hiccup was hyperventilating. What was wrong with him? Something like this, he often sprung into action. These types of events he could show just how much of a leader he could be. What was so different about today? Why was his anxiety causing him so much grief?

"The village had a fire last nigh'," Gobber continued once Hiccup calmed down a little bit. He let Hiccup go, allowing himself to keep himself standing upright.

"Gobber, I can see that!" Hiccup snapped suddenly.

Gobber continued over-top of his Chief. "Righ'now, we don't know who caused it, but-"

"Who?" Hiccup's anger came out again. "Are you telling me someone set arson on the village?"

"That's what Eret said," Valka replied quietly.

"But, Eret-he isn't exactly-ye' know-"

"No, Gobber, I don't know," Hiccup said sternly. "Where is Eret? I need to talk to him-"

"No," Valka said. "He's had enough excitement for one day. You can talk to him later-"

"Mom-where is he?" Hiccup demanded.

"You won't bother him right now," Valka said sternly. "You will help us get the rest of this fire put out-"

"Since when are you barking orders at me?" Hiccup yelled.

"Chief, ye' need to calm down-" Gobber began, stepping in between Valka and he. "What's with ye'?"

"What's with me?" Hiccup yelled. "Listen here-"

He was stopped when Astrid walked up and wrapped her arms around him, encasing him in a tight embrace.

"Please stop-" she whispered into his ear. "Please-I can't take the fighting right now-"

Her voice was quivering. Why was Astrid suddenly acting so-sensitive?

A moment later, Astrid pulled herself away from Hiccup, and grabbed him by the hand.

"Valka, you and Gobber have this under control?"

His mother nodded.

"Good, Hiccup, let's go for a ride, okay?" She motioned for Toothless to come forward. Hiccup was pushed onto his dragons back, and instinctively, he locked his leg into the gears. Astrid climbed over him, and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a long squeeze, "Hiccup and I will start patrolling. We need to make sure our boarders are set-"

With that, she gave Toothless a gentle kick with her heal, and they were air bound.

...

No matter what Hiccup did to the gears, Toothless kept turning his attention back towards the Cove. He had realized they were heading towards Raven's Point a moment into their flight...once he had snapped himself out of his shocked stupor.

"We-are not-going to-the cove!" Hiccup yelled, changing gears over a few times. Toothless was swaying back and forth in the air, and Astrid's grip around Hiccup's small mid-section was growing tighter.

"Hiccup Haddock!" Astrid yelled. "Stop before you crash us all!"

Toothless roared in agreement, turned his head, and slapped Hiccup upside the head with one one of his ears. Hiccup finally subdued, and allowed Toothless to lead them to the Cove.

Feeling a tug on the shoulder of his tunic, Astrid was pulling him out of the saddle and to his feet...not gently at all, mind you. She practically threw him forwards, and he had to catch himself before he fell to the ground. When his eyes looked up at her, he could see the anger on her face.

"What is with you?" she asked.

"What is with me?" he asked. "Why are you and Toothless turning against me? I should be at the village-"

"Hiccup, the situation is under control," Astrid said, crossing her arms in front of herself. He really didn't like when she did that. She always would stick a hip out and stare at him like she was more superior over him. Always had, especially when she would get all snippy about something.

"Under control?" Hiccup cried. "There are families that lost their homes-"

"And, I've already made arrangements for them to live in the Great Hall until we get their homes rebuilt. With the help of the dragons, it should only take us a few short weeks-"

"What about-"

"ENOUGH!" Astrid yelled over him. "What is wrong with you?"

"Again, back to that?" he asked her. "Nevermind me, I have a village to attend to-"

Hiccup started heading towards the direction of the path leading up to the top of the hill. From there, he'd run the half mile back to town to help make sure the fires were put out. He barely made it ten steps before he was tackled to the ground. He tried to fight Astrid off, but she was too much for him. She rolled him over onto his back, straddled him, and pinned his arms to the ground. He struggled against her, but finally subdued.

"Fine!" Hiccup said. "Can you get off of me now?"

"No," Astrid said, giving him a mean stare. "No running away from this Hiccup-"

"Are we in an intervention or something?"

"You could call it that," Astrid said with a shrug. Her tone softened, and looking into her eyes, Hiccup could see the worry outlined in them. "Hiccup, were you up all night?"

"No," he replied.

"Because when I tried to wake you up, you-you didn't get up-"

Hiccup sighed. "How long have you been awake?"

"Hours," Astrid breathed. "I was only asleep for maybe three hours before all hell broke-"

Hiccup swallowed, and found his eyes looking elsewhere. Anywhere but at Astrid.

"You were completely incoherent," Astrid breathed. "I yelled, I screamed. Toothless roared. I thought you'd died-" She paused and sighed. "Then, your Mom came and said to let you be-What's going on?"

Hiccup sighed. After a moment of not responding to her, he swallowed the emotion building up in his throat. He needed to tell her.

"That-drink you gave me last night-"

"For your pain?"

He shook his head again. He pushed himself to sit up, and Astrid moved away so he could. He noticed she was still waiting for him to run away out of dodge from her, but she relaxed once he sat cross-leggid in front of her.

Sighing, he began again. "I haven't been sleeping well, Astrid. For months-"

"I could have told you that."

"Couple nights ago, Mom found evidence of my herbs I used for my phantom pains. She recognized the concoction, and added to it. It's been helping me sleep, and sleep well. But, looks like it's been knocking me out completely for hours. I don't remember you trying to wake me up. I don't remember anything between us lying down to sleep last night, and me waking up to an empty house and voices outside."

"You have been a little calmer here lately than I thought," Astrid said calmly.

"I am just trying to take the edge of my stress off," Hiccup said. "I'm feeling better, less-rigid. Now...Obviously I have disappointed my people-my family-"

"Hiccup, ignore them," Astrid said. "You are here. Your mom and I had it under control."

Sighing, Hiccup nodded. "Now, may I please go talk to Eret?"

"Hiccup, it probably isn't a good idea," Astrid cringed. "The guy-he's a mess-"

"A mess in what sense?" Hiccup asked. His pulse quickened. "Astrid, he's going to be okay, right?"

Astrid nodded. "He's mad, Hiccup. Like-real mad."

...

The trio had decided to hike the half mile back towards the Great Hall. It would give Hiccup a chance to collect his thoughts, and Astrid a bit to make sure her husband was not crumbling in front of everyone. She held his hand tight as they walked the path for a little while. He seemed to have gained his composure. Placing herself into his shoes, she was sure she would have lost her mind for a moment like he had.

Eyes were darting towards them as they made their way towards the Great Hall. Hiccup honestly didn't know what to do or say to anyone. He felt so lost being hours late to the chaos that had spread through the village. He struggled to keep his head up as he walked past everyone, their glares beginning to weigh him down again.

He didn't want to look at or see anyone. He knew he deserved the anger for sleeping while everyone had worked so hard to help save the homes that had caught fire.

Relief found him inside the doors of the Great Hall. Very few people were inside. It became obvious almost instantly that Eret had been brought there because it was the center point of town. IT was much easier for the villagers who were injured from the flames to take refuge there. Gothi's was a trek to the other side of the island for the injured.

Glancing around the hall, Hiccup searched for a sign of Eret, but there was none.

"Are you sure you want to talk to him now?" Astrid asked. "Like I said, he isn't himself."

"Astrid, the sooner we get answers the sooner we can figure out what happened. We need to know what he saw."

Astrid sighed, and headed towards the stage on the back wall. IT was then that Hiccup realized Eret was being kept in the secret meeting hall. He knocked on the door himself, and a moment later the door slipped open. Gothi was there to let them inside.

Inside the room, the hearth blazed. That among multiple candles were their source of light considering the Great Hall was carved into the side the base of a large hill of the island.

As Hiccup passed Gothi, he suddenly felt a large "whack" to his backside. Straightening up, he turned to the elder and growled.

"What was that for?" he asked her, his voice somewhat raised.

"Hiccup, don't-" Astrid began

Without, replying, she headed out of the room towards the dining hall, closing the door behind him.

Hiccup turned his attention towards the back part of the room. Eret was laying on top of one of the dining tables under a few furs. He had an arm draped over his eyes, apparently shielding out any light. He could see soot in different layers on his body, accompanied by the smell of fire and smoke. His other arm was wrapped up in a sling, his hand showing the swelling. Under the blanketed, Hiccup could see his foot was elevated. His breathing also seemed off.

Now Hiccup understood why Astrid wasn't so keen on allowing him to see Eret. It was clear the guy had a pretty rough night. Asking him the questions he needed to wasn't going to be easy. Any other time, Hiccup would have rushed to Eret asking his questions so quickly to resolve the matter, Eret wouldn't have been able to answer them fast enough. Now, Hiccup was debating on letting his friend rest.

"Hiccup, you are too close," Astrid said quietly.

"I'm barely hovering," Hiccup said to her. Suddenly, his temper was starting to rise, and in the back of his mind, he didn't know why. Maybe, it was because he didn't like being told what to do. Suddenly, a wave of feeling washed over him. It was familiar. He suddenly felt fifteen all over again.

"You are hoving-" Astrid said. "He isn't something to gander at-"

"Now you know how I felt when I fought the Red Death-"

"Do you both hav' to argue right over me?" Eret suddenly yelled, causing them both to jump. Toothless, on the other hand found it enjoyable to see them nearly jump out of their flesh.

Hiccup watched as Eret slowly pushed himself up towards a sitting position. Not only did he do something to his arm and his leg, but his ribs, too. He winced as he sat up.

"Every time I try to sleep that old bat keeps coming in to wake me up-and now I have to listen to the two of you argue-"

"Glad to see you haven't lost the attitude," Astrid said, smirking.

"Of course not!" Eret said to her. He turned his eyes over to Hiccup. "D'you finally roll out of bed?"

Hiccup was suddenly on fire again. Anger came over him. Astrid must have sensed it, because she quickly fizzled the subject.

"Eret-what did you see last night?" Astrid asked him.

"I've already told you all this a hundred times! Someone was tampering with the house. I heard voices! I went to the roof top after I smelled smoke inside the house, and saw more fires being set. I couldn't tell you who it was, or how many there were." He coughed hard. He had inhaled a lot of smoke. "Anyways, did you guys find Skullcrusher?"

"Skullcrusher?" Hiccup asked, worried over his late-father's dragon suddenly. "He's missing?"

"Well, you mutten-head, if you hadn't been sleeping all morning you'd know-"

Hiccup turned to put a fist into Eret's face suddenly, and Eret made motion to defend himself, but Astrid stepped in the middle, putting her weight into Hiccup, forcing him out of the room.

"We will find him, Eret," Astrid said, then pulled the door shut behind them.

...

 **Thoughts? Ideas? I have an outline in my head of what is going to happen next. Sad part is, I am horrible at battle scenes. I can't seem to write action as much as I would like to.**

 **Thanks for reading guys! Really appreciate the views and support.**


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